The mercury hit 48.2°C in the town of Chauk in central Myanmar’s Magway region yesterday, according to a statement from the country’s weather office, the highest temperature seen anywhere in Myanmar in April since records began 56 years ago.

The same day temperatures hit 40°C in commercial hub Yangon and 44°C in the second city of Mandalay, the weather office said.

“It was too hot here, and all of us just stayed at home,” said one resident of Chauk, which is located in Myanmar’s arid central plains.

“We can do nothing when it’s like this,” he told AFP, asking not to be named.

Across swathes of Myanmar’s arid heartland daytime temperatures last Thursday were 3°C to 4°C higher than the April average, according to the country’s weather monitor.

Global temperatures hit record highs last year and the UN’s World Meteorological Organization said Asia was warming at a particularly rapid pace, with the impact of heatwaves in the region becoming more severe.

Scientific research has shown climate change is causing heatwaves to be longer, more frequent and more intense.